# Webfetch > The license-first image layer for AI agents and humans. 24 federated providers · CC0/CC-BY/PD-first · MCP native · Chrome extension · Python + TS SDKs. - **Type:** MCP server - **Install:** `agentstack add mcp-ashlrai-webfetch` - **Verified:** Pending review - **Seller:** [ashlrai](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/ashlrai) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [Cloud & Infrastructure](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/cloud-infrastructure) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** MIT - **Upstream author:** [ashlrai](https://github.com/ashlrai) - **Source:** https://github.com/ashlrai/webfetch - **Website:** https://getwebfetch.com ## Install ```sh agentstack add mcp-ashlrai-webfetch ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About # webfetch [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/getwebfetch) [](https://github.com/ashlrai/webfetch/actions/workflows/ci.yml) [](./LICENSE) [](https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/ashlrai/webfetch) [](https://getwebfetch.com/discord) [](https://github.com/ashlrai/webfetch) **The license-first image layer for AI agents and humans.** One MCP server, one CLI, and one HTTP server that federate across 25 image providers, rank results license-first, and reject `UNKNOWN` results by default. Any agent that speaks MCP (Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Continue, Roo Code, Codex) wires up from one config line. Landing page, pricing, and hosted usage live at **[getwebfetch.com](https://getwebfetch.com)**. ## Install | Surface | One-liner | | ------------- | --------- | | npm | `npm i -g getwebfetch` | | Homebrew | `brew tap ashlrai/webfetch && brew install webfetch` | | Docker | `docker run --rm ghcr.io/ashlrai/webfetch cli help` | | curl \| bash | `curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ashlrai/webfetch/main/install/install.sh \| bash` | The `curl | bash` installer also wires webfetch into Claude Code's `~/.claude/settings.json` idempotently. Re-run any time to update. ## Surfaces | Surface | Best for | Entry point | | ------- | -------- | ----------- | | CLI | scripts, shell work, agent handoff | `webfetch search ...` | | MCP server | Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Continue, Roo Code, Codex | `npx -y getwebfetch-mcp` | | HTTP server | local integrations and extensions | `npx -y webfetch-server` | | Core library | TypeScript apps and custom tooling | `npm i webfetch-core` | | Browser layer | fallback extraction and managed-browser flows | `npm i webfetch-browser` | | Hosted cloud | pooled keys, usage tracking, team controls | [app.getwebfetch.com](https://app.getwebfetch.com) | Package-level API notes live in [`packages/core/README.md`](./packages/core/README.md), [`packages/browser/README.md`](./packages/browser/README.md), and the other package READMEs under `packages/`. ## 30-second usage CLI: ```bash webfetch search "drake portrait" --limit 5 webfetch artist "Taylor Swift" --kind portrait --min-width 1200 webfetch download --out ./portrait.jpg printf "drake portrait\nradiohead album\n" | webfetch batch --jsonl --continue-on-error ``` MCP (from inside any MCP-speaking agent): ``` search_images({ query: "drake portrait", limit: 5 }) search_artist_images({ artist: "Taylor Swift", kind: "portrait" }) download_image({ url: "..." }) ``` TypeScript library: ```ts import { searchArtistImages, pickBest, downloadImage } from "webfetch-core"; const { candidates } = await searchArtistImages("Drake", "portrait"); const best = pickBest(candidates, { minWidth: 1200 }); if (best) { const { cachedPath, sha256 } = await downloadImage(best.url); console.log(best.attributionLine, "->", cachedPath); } ``` ## What problem this solves Manually sourcing an image has four failure modes: 1. **You don't know the license**, so you can't safely ship the result. 2. **You can't script it** — every new site means another afternoon. 3. **Google's Image Search API is retired**; scraping is brittle and ToS-grey. 4. **No shared cache** — you re-download the same file dozens of times. webfetch fixes all four by federating across direct-source APIs that have stable terms and structured license metadata, ranking candidates license-first, and exposing the result as a single MCP tool. ## Providers | Provider | Covers | License default | Auth | Opt-in | | ---------------- | ---------------------------------------- | -------------------- | ---------------------------- | ------ | | wikimedia | portraits, events, logos, history | CC_BY_SA (metadata) | — | no | | openverse | any CC-licensed content | CC_BY (metadata) | — | no | | unsplash | high-quality photography | `UNSPLASH_LICENSE` | `UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY` | no | | pexels | stock photography | `PEXELS_LICENSE` | `PEXELS_API_KEY` | no | | pixabay | stock photos + illustrations | `PIXABAY_LICENSE` | `PIXABAY_API_KEY` | no | | itunes | album covers, artist portraits | EDITORIAL_LICENSED | — | no | | musicbrainz-caa | canonical album art | EDITORIAL_LICENSED | — | no | | spotify | artist + album images | EDITORIAL_LICENSED | `SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID/SECRET` | no | | youtube-thumb | video thumbnails | EDITORIAL_LICENSED | — | yes | | brave | general web image search | UNKNOWN (+heuristic) | `BRAVE_API_KEY` | no | | bing | general web image search | UNKNOWN (+heuristic) | `BING_API_KEY` | yes | | serpapi | Google Images + reverse lookup | UNKNOWN (+heuristic) | `SERPAPI_KEY` | yes | | browser | headless fallback vs images.google.com | UNKNOWN | — | yes | | managed-browser | Bright Data managed browser fallback | UNKNOWN | `BRIGHTDATA_API_TOKEN` | yes | | flickr | CC / public-domain photography | CC_BY (metadata) | `FLICKR_API_KEY` | no | | internet-archive | public-domain / CC archive media | PUBLIC_DOMAIN | — | no | | smithsonian | Open Access museum media | CC0 | `SMITHSONIAN_API_KEY` | no | | nasa | NASA imagery | PUBLIC_DOMAIN | — | no | | met-museum | The Met Open Access | CC0 | — | no | | europeana | European cultural heritage | CC_BY (metadata) | `EUROPEANA_API_KEY` | no | | library-of-congress | US historical archive | PUBLIC_DOMAIN | — | no | | wellcome-collection | medical/historical imagery | CC_BY (metadata) | — | no | | rawpixel | CC0 stock slice | CC0 | `RAWPIXEL_API_KEY` optional | no | | burst | Shopify Burst stock photos | CC0 | — | no | | europeana-archival | Europeana text/manuscript records | CC_BY (metadata) | `EUROPEANA_API_KEY` | yes | See [`docs/PROVIDERS.md`](./docs/PROVIDERS.md) for gotchas, rate limits, and [`docs/PROVIDER_TUNING.md`](./docs/PROVIDER_TUNING.md) for per-use-case picks. ## Local and cloud modes The CLI is local-first: by default `webfetch search`, `artist`, `album`, `download`, `probe`, `license`, and `batch` call `webfetch-core` in-process and use provider API keys from your environment. Pass `--cloud` or set `WEBFETCH_MODE=cloud` to call `https://api.getwebfetch.com/v1/*` with `WEBFETCH_API_KEY` or `webfetch config set apiKey wf_live_...`. Use local mode when you want direct provider calls and a local cache. Use cloud mode when you want hosted auth, pooled provider keys, managed browser fallback, usage accounting, or team controls. ## Why license-first The only outcome we reject by default is an image we can't justify. A marginally-better photo under an unknown license is worthless to a pipeline that needs to ship without human review. Relevance ties are easy to break; provenance is not. The ranker sorts by: **license tag -> metadata confidence -> resolution -> provider priority**. `UNKNOWN` is rejected by default (Berne Convention: most of the web is all-rights-reserved unless proven otherwise). See [`docs/LICENSE_POLICY.md`](./docs/LICENSE_POLICY.md). ### Migration: CC0 stock providers Older webfetch builds treated Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay as `CC0`. Current builds expose their platform terms explicitly: | Old tag | New tag | What to check | | --- | --- | --- | | `CC0` from Unsplash | `UNSPLASH_LICENSE` | Unsplash terms; not Creative Commons | | `CC0` from Pexels | `PEXELS_LICENSE` | Pexels terms; not Creative Commons | | `CC0` from Pixabay | `PIXABAY_LICENSE` | Pixabay terms; not Creative Commons | Most callers should keep `licensePolicy: "safe-only"` because it still allows open, platform, editorial, and press-kit categories while rejecting `UNKNOWN`. Pipelines that require only Creative Commons or public-domain assets should use `licensePolicy: "open-only"` and update type guards to handle the three platform tags separately. ## webfetch vs alternatives | Capability | webfetch | Raw Google Images | Unsplash-only | Bing CSE | | ------------------------------------- | -------- | ----------------- | ------------- | -------- | | Scriptable via API | yes | no (retired) | yes | yes | | License metadata per result | yes | no | yes (one lic) | partial | | Covers editorial music art | yes | partial | no | partial | | Covers CC / public-domain | yes | no | no | no | | Safe-by-default (rejects UNKNOWN) | yes | n/a | n/a | no | | Shared content-addressed cache | yes | no | no | no | | Attribution line pre-built | yes | no | no | no | | One MCP config line across all IDEs | yes | no | no | no | | No per-query cost on defaults | yes | n/a | yes | no | ## Architecture ``` +------------------+ | webfetch-core | | (ranker, cache, | | license coerce)| +---------+--------+ | +----------------+-----------+-----------+----------------+ | | | | +-------v------+ +------v-------+ +-------v------+ +------v-------+ | webfetch | | webfetch-mcp | | webfetch- | | browser | | CLI | | (stdio) | | server (HTTP)| | extensions | +-------+------+ +------+-------+ +-------+------+ +------+-------+ | | | | | | | | +----------------+-----------+-----------+----------------+ | +---------------------v---------------------+ | provider adapters | | wikimedia openverse unsplash pexels | | pixabay itunes mb-caa spotify | | youtube brave bing serpapi | | flickr nasa met europeana | | loc wellcome rawpixel burst | | browser + managed-browser + archival opt-in| +-------------------------------------------+ ``` Every surface shares `~/.webfetch/cache/` keyed by SHA-256, so a download from the CLI is instantly available to the MCP server and vice versa. ## Safety defaults - `licensePolicy: "safe-only"` — open, platform-license, and editorial/press categories are allowed; `UNKNOWN` is rejected. - `safeSearch: "strict"`. - Opt-in providers (`youtube-thumb`, `bing`, `serpapi`, `browser`, `managed-browser`, `europeana-archival`) off by default. - 20 MB per-download cap, content-type guard, host blocklist. - `robots.txt` respected on generic page probes. ## Roadmap - `webfetch watch` — daemon mode for repeated queries / incremental refresh. - Bring-your-own-provider plugin API. - Hosted tier at [getwebfetch.com](https://getwebfetch.com) — pooled provider keys, managed browser fallback, team usage dashboard. ## Contributing Issues and PRs welcome. Run `bun install && bun test` to get started. See [`docs/`](./docs/) for per-area reference docs. ## License MIT. ## Source & license This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [ashlrai](https://github.com/ashlrai) - **Source:** [ashlrai/webfetch](https://github.com/ashlrai/webfetch) - **License:** MIT - **Homepage:** https://getwebfetch.com Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above. ## Pricing - **Free** — Free ## Security capabilities Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access: - **Network access:** yes - **Filesystem access:** no - **Shell / process execution:** no - **Environment & secrets:** no - **Dynamic code execution:** no *"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.* ## Versions - **0.1.0** — security scan: flagged — Imported from the upstream source. ## Links - Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/mcp-ashlrai-webfetch - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/ashlrai - Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse --- Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.